Breaking Open the Word - 3rd Sunday of Easter, Year A

Third Sunday of Easter, Year A – April 26th, 2020

This Sunday the liturgy presents – for the third time this Easter season! – the beautiful Gospel of the Road to Emmaus. Why is Mother Church so insistent that her children read this particular passage? One Sister suggested that it is because this story is really the story of each of us! It can serve as a parable for the Christian life after the Resurrection and Ascension: Jesus still walks with us, but in hidden ways, and it is in the Word of God and “the breaking of the bread” (the Eucharist) that we come to recognize Him. The Emmaus account also presents a faithful model for Catholic Scripture study, which should endeavor to interpret the whole Bible through the lens of Christ. Unsurprisingly, it is a favorite passage of many modern Catholic Scripture scholars!

The Road to Emmaus by Duccio di Buoninsegna

                The Responsorial Psalm (Ps. 16: “Lord, You will show us the path of life”) illuminates the Gospel. The road to Emmaus becomes the “path of life” because we walk it in company with the Lord, hidden as He may be. We find “abounding joy in [His] presence” as “our hearts [are] burning within us.” And though the Lord does not “abandon [us] to death” (Sheol, the Hebrew realm of the dead), the “path of life” sometimes leads us, as it did Him, through this place of darkness. Still, we need not fear, since “Jesus Himself [draws] near” to walk with us and give us hope by His presence. Even if all we see and feel at a given time is the darkness, He is there in a mysterious way and will eventually draw us into the light.

                We also discussed the mystery of why the two disciples “were prevented from recognizing Him.” It can be easy to blame this on their lack of faith, but on a closer reading, it seems that the Lord is deliberately hiding Himself. Why would He do this? Perhaps because this gradual revelation actually leads to a far deeper grace of healing than would a dramatic theophany. Jesus approaches us disguised as a fellow pilgrim. Like a good spiritual director, He gently asks questions that draw out from our hearts what is hurting us. He is thus able to participate in, understand, and elevate our suffering, and His eventual revelation then heals us more fully, since we see more clearly His tenderness and love for us in our weakness. Jesus’ choice to appear “in disguise” is also a lesson for us to learn how to find Him in everyday life. Most often, He does not meet us in a blaze of glory, but rather in the simple events of each day. If we remain alert, these meetings can be just as deeply graced.

                Finally, we spoke about an interesting theory about the identity of the two disciples. One, Cleopas, is named outright. Many have speculated that he is Jesus’ uncle, the husband of Our Lady’s sister, “Mary the wife of Clopas,” mentioned in John 19. One ancient tradition holds that Cleopas is actually the brother of St. Joseph, and thus his wife Mary is the sister in-law of the Blessed Virgin. Either way, some have suggested that the unnamed disciple is this “other Mary,” who was also present at the empty tomb. Perhaps this explains why the two were “debating”; maybe Mary was trying to convince her husband of what she saw! In addition, the image of a husband and wife encountering the Lord in the evening time hearkens back to Genesis 3, when Adam and Eve hid from God as He walked through Eden “in the cool of the evening.” This time, however, effects of our first parents’ sin are being undone: the conflict between the two disciples turns into unity (“were not our hearts burning within us?”), their “eyes were opened” not to shame but to recognition of the Lord, and their fear turns to courage as they run back to Jerusalem with their good news.